Vinexposium confirms again: from February 14 to 16 “Wine Paris & Vinexpo Paris” will be held

Yesterday in France, as reported by the Parisian newspaper “Le Figaro”, among others, citing data from the French Ministry of Health, there were 501,635 new Covid-19 positives in one day, an absolute record, with a 31.7% positivity rate, and hospital admissions back above 30,000, a threshold not exceeded since April. But life goes on, and while on January 24 the hexagon introduced a vaccination pass (more or less on the model of the Italian Green Pass) that becomes compulsory for everyone over 16 to enter restaurants, bars, museums, gyms and so on (but not in hospitals or for events and political meetings), from Paris comes yet another reassurance on the front of Vinexpo Wine Paris, confirmed from February 14 to 16, 2022.
“Wine Paris & Vinexpo Paris has confirmed that the fair will be held, and remains determined to bring together members of the wine and spirits industry in the best possible conditions. The numbers for the first international event of the year”, according to a note, “speak for themselves: with 2,800 exhibitors and steady growth in registrations of qualified visitors (+10% per day), preparations are going ahead, and 20,000 national and international visitors will attend. Exhibitors, the Vinexpo note points out, come from 32 countries. And if France is obviously the no. 1, Italy is the second most represented country, also thanks to the work of the Ice Agency, with wineries (among others) such as Andreola, Allegrini, Bellavista, Bellussi Spumanti, Bonacchi, Botter, Carpineto, Castello di Montepò (Jacopo Biondi Santi), Coppi, Fantini Group, Feudi di San Gregorio, Fontanafredda, Feudi di Romans, Garofoli, Gruppo Italiano Vini - Giv, i Fabbri Italian Signature Academy, La Guardiense, Le Monde, Loacker, Luca Ferraris, Frescobaldi, Michele Chiarlo, Montelvini, Monte del Fra, Pasqua, Paladin, Piccini, Pian dell’Orino, Planeta, Podere il Carnasciale, Ruggeri, Santero, Settesoli, Serena Wines, Silvio Carta, Stefania Pepe, Tenuta del Buonamico, Tenuta Lamborghini, Torrevento, Umbero Cesari, Valdo Spumanti, Villa Sandi, and the Consortia of Prosecco Doc and Conegliano Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore Docg, Chianti Classico and Morellino di Scansano, the Consorzio Vini delle Venezie and the Consorzio del Chianti, and the Consorzio di Tutela Vini d’Abruzzo, with a collective area featuring 13 companies with over 200 references and a consortium tasting area. “Paris is a strategic location, where we are making our debut in order to intercept operators not only from the French market but also from central and northern Europe”, explains Valentino Di Campli, President of the Consorzio Tutela Vini d’Abruzzo, who strongly supported this presence at Vinexpo Wine Paris. “After a successful 2021, with exports growing by 10% in the main target countries for a total turnover of more than 205 million euros, we are continuing to invest in promotion abroad. In Europe, this is the first fair to be staged and we really hope to be able to bring supply and demand together live again”.
While 58% of the visitors registered to date are French and 42% foreign, mainly from Belgium, the Netherlands, the UK, the USA and Germany. “Ongoing security measures will be followed with the utmost rigor”, Vinexposium emphasizes, “to ensure that the event runs smoothly, while providing the comfort and conviviality that participants expect. Measures include compulsory proof of vaccination (vaccination card for EU countries, full course of vaccination for non-EU countries, with presentation of a negative antigen test less than 24 hours old), together with compulsory face cover. Digital access badges (e-badges) will be favored and an enhanced cleaning process will be used in each area during the three-day event. These conditions will allow all attendees to fully benefit from the wide range of features of the 2022 exhibition, which will be punctuated by key areas and main events. The program has been designed to offer all members of the industry an optimized in-person experience with numerous high-quality masterclasses and tastings, multi-format talks by experts and inspirational personalities and popular themed areas - Be Spirits will honor spirits and mixology, Wine Tech Perspectives will allow attendees to dive deep into the heart of industry innovation and digitization and La Nouvelle Vague will highlight young winemakers and talent”.
“With three weeks to go before the fair opens”, adds Vinexposium CEO Rodolphe Lameyse, “we are putting all our energy into delivering the event the industry expects. We are using all our resources to bring in key international buyers and make Wine Paris & Vinexpo Paris an amazing event, in every respect”.
The French, therefore, are going straight ahead, even at a time that, at least in terms of pandemic numbers, is anything but simple. Opening, therefore, the long and intense calendar of the coming months, which, after the various rearrangements, will see, in order, the debut of Sana Slow Wine Fair at BolognaFiere from March 27-29, 2022, then Vinitaly, the most important Italian wine fair, confirmed on its dates of April 10-13 in Verona, passing through the London Wine Fair in London on May 9-10, to ProWein in Dusseldorf which, as revealed in advance by WineNews, then confirmed, has been rescheduled by Messe Dusseldorf from May 15-17.
Not forgetting, of course, the Previews of Italian wine with the “Anteprime di Toscana”, directed by the Region of Tuscany, Avito and the individual Consortia, on stage in March, from 19 to 25, in Florence and the territories; scrolling down the calendar, in Campi Flegrei, from March 29 to April 1, “Campania Stories” will be held; “Grandi Langhe”, of the Consorzio del Barolo e del Barbaresco, together with that of Roero, will be held in April, on 4 and 5, in Turin. Then, from April 27 to May 1, the 2022 edition of Sicilia en primeur by Assovini will be held at the Ettore Majorana Centre for Scientific Culture in Erice, while from May 22 to 24 it will be the turn of “Vini ad Arte 2022”, the event organized by the Consorzio dei Vini di Romagna in various locations throughout the territory and in the Faenza Ceramics Museum, and on May 25 and 26 it will be the turn of the recently confirmed Anteprima Sagrantino, in Montefalco, organized by the Consorzio di tutela dei Vini di Montefalco. In June, on dates still to be decided, there will be “Anteprima Amarone”, an event organized by the Consorzio dei Vini della Valpolicella, while from June 7-10 there will be the “Abruzzo Wine Experience”, a kermesse organized by the Consorzio della Tutela Vini d’Abruzzo.